Help w/ stuck caliper slide pin on 06 Explorer

[dave 911]

I changed the pads on my DD yesterday, and after a short test drive the rotor was very hot, so I took it back apart, and the lower slide pin (on the bracket that stays on the wheel that the lower bolt goes in to) is stuck - it won't rotate or push in and out like the upper one. It's stuck about 1/4" further out than the top, so it's causing the caliper to push the top of the pad against the rotor. It's the front left.

Anyone have any experience/tips to share here? I've shot it w/ PB Blaster, and tapped it w/ a hammer, I'm reluctant to give it a good wack as I don't want to break anything.

Thanks

[yetibone]

You can gently heat it with a propane, or MAP gas torch while trying to rotate the pin with a pair of pliers. Once it starts to rotate, start pulling it outward. Happens all the time on Toyota passenger cars, Chevy, and Ford trucks with dual piston calipers.

I've even drilled a 1/8" hole in a caliper bracket before, directly in front of the tip of the pin in order to get some lube up in there. A quick zap with a MIG will seal the hole up when you get the pin out.

The expensive option is to replace the calipers.

[dave 911]

I fought with it for awhile this afternoon, then put the old pads back on and will take to my wrench in the morning. I don't have the time or patience to be jacking w/ it since it's my daily driver. What a crappy design though, thin little cylinders just hanging out there inches above the road, protected only by little rubber boots - thinking about all the salty slush I've driven through in the last 5 years it's no wonder it's seized up....

Brackets are fairly cheap at Autozone - less than $40, and paying them for the labor is worth it at this point.

And then for relaxation, worked on my '62 bug's brakes...much more fun

[yel911]

Replace the caliper. My last 2 Toyotas did the same thing at 75k miles. Frozen piston. Use some visegrips gently squeeze the rubber line, replace and bleed. Be happy. Also, use a large "C" clamp with the old brake pads to colapse the piston.

[pete3799]

Originally Posted by yetibone

You can gently heat it with a propane, or MAP gas torch while trying to rotate the pin with a pair of pliers. Once it starts to rotate, start pulling it outward. Happens all the time on Toyota passenger cars, Chevy, and Ford trucks with dual piston calipers.

I've even drilled a 1/8" hole in a caliper bracket before, directly in front of the tip of the pin in order to get some lube up in there. A quick zap with a MIG will seal the hole up when you get the pin out.

The expensive option is to replace the calipers.

Heat is your friend.
Just had to do this on my daughters car.

[fastfredracing]

Just be careful heating those pins . I was doing one in a bracket on the bench vise. As I was heating it, it came free, and shot out of there like a bullet. Whizzed past my head, and took a nice chunk out of my block wall. I guess pressure builds up behind the pin with the heat, and once it lets go........
Just keep yourself out of the line of fire per se.

[bcgreen]

Just in case you need a set of semi metallic brake pads, I have a set from my '96 Explorer that I never used

[dave 911]

Originally Posted by bcgreen

Just in case you need a set of semi metallic brake pads, I have a set from my '96 Explorer that I never used

Thanks for the offer, but now I have an extra set of pads, as my wrench put new ones on, since the 'new' ones that I put in over weekend had uneven wear marks on them...so I now have new calipers and rotors on the front, definitely more that I thought I was biting off w/ the pad change job I did, but I also had a stuck piston on the driver side caliper.